Family Research Council omits facts in child assault case to falsely deem Equality Act as dangerous

The Equality Act, passed last week by the House and awaiting a Senate vote, is a comprehensive LGBTQ rights bill.  The religious right is attacking the bill in the same manner it attacks all things pro-LGBTQ - via bad science, horror stories, and out-and-out lies.

The Family Research Council has just come out with a booklet denouncing the Equality Act. Calling it a booklet is being nice on my part because it's actually a mess. FRC throws so many arguments against the Equality Act that the booklet gives an impression of sad desperation.

I am not going to link it because one of the claims turned my stomach:

The Equality Act would also virtually do away with sex-segregated spaces, meaning women and girls would no longer have privacy when in publicly accessible bathrooms, locker rooms, and other such spaces. Similar laws mandating SOGI in public accommodations at the local and sate level have already resulted in litigation. In one case, a kindergartener was assaulted by a boy classmate in her school's bathroom. 

Any type of assault is nothing to make light of, particularly that of children. We must always be careful to guard against it. We should also be careful to get all of the facts before making claims of assault

But in this case, it would appear that FRC didn't bother to.

This awful situation stems from a 2018  federal civil rights complaint in Decatur, GA by parent Pascha Thomas. Thomas claimed that her child was assaulted by another child who identified as gender fluid while in the school's bathroom the year before. 

The complaint, filed by Norcross attorney Vernadette Broyles under the federal Title IX law, says the City Schools of Decatur created a hostile environment for girls by “eliminating their expectation of privacy from the opposite sex.” It says the girl, who was a kindergartner at Oakhurst Elementary School, was pushed against a wall and her genitals were forcibly touched by a fellow student who had followed her to the bathroom. A school district spokeswoman issued a brief statement saying the district was “aware of the unfounded allegations” and “we fully disagree with their characterization of the situation.” The statement said there would be no further comment because it was a pending legal matter. 

While the school made no further comment, Thomas did. Her rendition of the incident traveled throughout right-wing circles and she even made a video with the anti-LGBTQ organization the Alliance Defending Freedom. ADF is known for being behind much, if not all, anti-LGBTQ litigation in the country. You can read about the video here.   

In 2018, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights began investigating the incident. In 2020, the investigation ended:

The investigation, which began in 2018, could not substantiate that an assault ever occurred. It did, however, note that City Schools of Decatur did not follow the proper investigative procedures under Title IX, the federal law that protects students from discrimination. The investigation also unearthed conflicting reports about whether the boy accused of the assault was transgender or gender fluid, as was alleged in the original complaint. School district officials have always maintained the child identifies as a boy. 

 “OCR found conflicting evidence about whether [the boy accused of the assault] was in the girls’ bathroom and, if so, was there because of his gender identity,” the OCR’s Letter of Findings says. “OCR’s investigation reveals, however, that due to the [policy on transgender students], students are given leeway to select bathrooms of their choice, and there is evidence from [the boy’s] father that [his child] was using the girls’ bathroom, albeit for reasons unrelated to the policy.

In other words, an investigation found that: 

It couldn't verify proof that an assault had happened.

That the alleged perpetrator may not have been gender fluid.

And the manner in which school implemented the policy may have caused the incident but not the policy itself. 

I am not making light of the situation or assault in general. However, FRC conveniently omitted several crucial details about this incident and that's a huge problem.  In its zeal against LGBTQ rights and safety, FRC has demonstrated in the past that it has no problem implying that transgender children are predators. This latest act is simply par for the course.

Perhaps people shouldn't fear the Equality Act and instead recognize that FRC is the actual danger to children. Particularly our transgender children.